It Is the People That Should Decide

A recent poll by the Princeton Survey Research Associates International group, published in the Angus Reid Global Monitor and Alliance Alert, says that Americans are divided on the issue of same-sex marriage. Well, I don’t need a poll to tell me that. But, the conclusions of this poll are particularly interesting to note.

Granted, this poll was released by Newsweek magazine, which, as we now know will go to incredible lengths to help spread the message of equality for the gay and lesbian community. Just last week the magazine released a story claiming that the Bible itself is actually in support of same-sex marriage. (Click here for the Newsweek article: “Our Mutual Joy.”)

Well, I hate to tell Lisa Miller, Newsweek, and the rest who would inappropriately claim that the Bible supports same-sex marriage, but, no serious student of Scripture and no credited Bible scholar would ever stand in the camp of those who would make this claim. And though Ms. Miller is the religion columnist for Newsweek, before she publishes another article such as this that makes her look quite silly in the eyes of those who truly do know the Bible, I have a whole list of the world’s most renown scholars she ought to consult with to get her facts straight.

Back to the poll that was released. The interesting thing about it is that it asserts that 32% of Americans favor civil unions for same-sex couples, while 31% support marriage rights, with only 30% favoring no legal status of any kind.

I find this interesting in light of the fact that 30 states, including one of the largest, California, have passed state amendments recognizing marriage as between one man and one woman. These 30 states certainly make up a majority. And several states that have no amendment yet, such as Iowa and West Virginia, consistently release polls showing major majorities in favor of marriage between one man and one woman. And yet this poll released by Newsweek wants to claim that nearly two-thirds of Americans favor same-sex unions of some sort.

In the same article that the poll was released is a quickly placed blurb about how the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, and South Africa, with Norway coming in 2009, all allow same-sex marriage. My first thought was, so what.

I cannot make heads or tails of why in the world writers, politicians, and the media continue to bring up what other countries are doing and allowing. Exactly what relevance does that have to the United States? If these countries are so incredible, so amazing, so progressive and forward thinking, why aren’t people rushing their borders trying to get in? Why don’t their governments have to adopt new laws to accommodate all the “foreigners” who have stormed their shores?

If politicians and media personnel are so enamored with these other countries and their “freedom” why don’t they move there? Why stay in this terrible awful country where oppression and inequality still exist? I will tell you why. It’s because no matter what laws from around the world the liberal side may drool over, this is still the greatest country on the planet, and it is still the country everyone wants to get in to, and it is because the democratic process is allowed to thrive here (at least we can say that for now, what happens in the future is still uncertain).

How about we stop focusing on what is happening in other countries and start paying more attention to the things we need to work on right here in our own back yard. Despite the supposed democracy we espouse some judge won’t play by the rules. Take Iowa for example.

One judge in Iowa decided to scrap the law and strike down DOMA, which has been in place since 1998, according to an article on dailygate.com. The judge, District Judge Robert Hanson, did so because of one case, Varnum v. Brien. This despite consistent polls that show 72% of Iowans support traditional marriage. Now the battle begins in Iowa. The question is, according to Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney Doug Napier, an Iowa native, is:

“Who gets to decide: seven justices or the people of Iowa?”

I would pose the same question to the people of West Virginia, my state of residence. Currently West Virginia has the same DOMA law that was struck down by one single judge in Iowa. And it would be just as easy to strike down in West Virginia as it was in Iowa. Eerily similar to polls and stats in Iowa as well, is the fact that polls have shown that over 70% of West Virginians support the definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman. Click here for the Family Policy Council poll.

I would urge all citizens of West Virginia to contact Gov. Joe Manchin’s office and tell him you want the right to define marriage in the state of West Virginia. Tell him that we, the people, want the right to define marriage, not the legislature, not the courts, not any judge, but we the people. (Click here to e-mail Gov. Joe Manchin’s office.) As I’ve said before, and will continue to say, we stand for marriage between one man and one woman, and we do not want the courts or anyone else imposing a law upon us that knowingly deprives children of a mother and a father.

Here’s the final word for today. No government, judge or legislature should pass any law that is a sweeping, all inclusive law without the consent of the people. Laws should always go through the people, because in democratic systems, which for the time being we still have in America, the government flows through the people. To usurp the will of the people is to ignore the democratic process.